Tag: Abortion rights

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Proposed Legislation Makes Taking A Minor Out Of State For Abortion Care A Felony

Photo by Gayatri Malhotra on Unsplash

Taking a minor out of the state of Tennessee for abortion care could soon be classified as a Class C felony.

This week, Rep. Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville), introduced HB 1895, which would prohibit taking minors to another state for a medical abortion. The bill proposes that this act be defined as “abortion trafficking.” 

The legislation also allows for another person to sue the person found guilty of “abortion trafficking” for the death of the unborn child.

“Abortion – As introduced, creates the criminal offense of abortion trafficking of a minor,” reads the summary of the bill. “Provides for a civil action against a person committing the offense of abortion trafficking of a minor for the wrongful death of an unborn child that was aborted.”

If passed, those found guilty could face three to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines.

In August 2022, providing abortions became a felony in Tennessee, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the U.S. Supreme Court. Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act, which was initially passed in 2019, does not allow abortions in cases of rape, incest, or any fetal abnormality that could prove fatal to the baby. Clinics such as Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi were forced to stop abortion services completely.

As abortion providers in the state stopped services, many women began to consider traveling out of state for abortions. Choices-Center for Reproductive Health, opened a clinic in Carbondale, Illinois. According to the clinic, they have provided close to 3,800 abortions since the Dobbs decision.

In November of last year Planned Parenthood of North Mississippi in Tennessee announced that through October of 2023, they had “navigated 632 patients out of state for abortion services and have spent $97,429 on their travel expenses.”

The bill has already drawn heavy criticism by multiple abortion advocates, as well as on social media.

Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi said that this legislation is “especially dangerous for vulnerable minors living in abusive situations.”

“Most minors involve a parent in their decision to get an abortion. But for young people living in abusive households, disclosing sexual activity or pregnancy can trigger physical or emotional abuse, including direct physical or sexual violence, or being thrown out of the home,” said Coffield. “This bill makes criminals out of trusted adults, including other family members, who can help in these circumstances.”

An X [formerly Twitter] user by the name @lgbtwerewolves took to the platform to call the bill “unthinkably evil” and “disgusting.”

“I am imagining the trauma and physical pain a kid has to go through to get to a point of needing abortion care and threatening family members helping them seek care with class c felonies is just adding emotional torture,” the user wrote.

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Center For Reproductive Rights Sues State Over Near-Total Abortion Ban

Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash

The Center for Reproductive Rights has filed legal action against the state of Tennessee regarding abortion rights and the near-total ban passed by the state.

The case, Blackmon v. State of Tennessee, was filed on behalf of three women, Nicole Blackmon, Allyson Phillips, and Kaitlyn Dulong, who were “denied necessary and potentially life-saving medical care.” The suit was one of three complaints filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights on behalf of patients in Idaho, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, who were” denied abortion care despite grave pregnancy complications.’

“Blackmon v. State of Tennessee challenges the limited scope of the ‘emergent medical condition’ exception to Tennessee’s total abortion ban,” said the organization. They said that Tennessee’s abortion ban endangers the lives of pregnant people, and that the medical condition exception “threatens doctors with arbitrary enforcement.”

Plaintiffs also include two obstetricians/gynecologists, Dr. Heather Maune of Nashville, and Dr. Laura Anderson of Franklin. The suit states that the medical condition exception has “put patients’ lives and doctors’ liberty and livelihoods at grave risk.”

According to Tennessee Administrative Code, chapter 1200-12-01-.14, an emergency medical condition refers to a “medical condition manifesting itself by acute symptoms of sufficient severity, including severe pain, such that it could put the patient’s health in serious jeopardy, cause serious impairment to bodily function, or cause serious dysfunction of any body organ, system, or part without immediate medical attention.”

On August 25, 2022, a Tennessee law went into effect that made providing abortions a felony. The Human Life Protection Act “was passed in 2019 just in case the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturned the landmark Roe v. Wade.” The law only allows an abortion in Tennessee if giving birth would kill the pregnant woman or would prevent “serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.”

“Since then, pregnant people in Tennessee have suffered needless physical and emotional pain and harm, including loss of their fertility,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit says the following on behalf of the three women:

  • When Nicole Blackmon found out she was pregnant, she “stopped taking medication needed to treat the symptoms of her various medical conditions to avoid harming her pregnancy.” She later found out that her baby had a “lethal fetal diagnosis,” and was unable to leave Tennessee to get an abortion. Blackmon continued her pregnancy, and gave birth to a stillborn baby during her seventh month of pregnancy.
  • Allie Phillips received the news that the second child she was expecting, Miley Rose, had developed “multiple fetal diagnoses.” Phillips could not get an abortion, and found out that continuing pregnancy “would strain [her] own precarious health.” Phillips raised money through GoFundMe to go to New York for care, but “had to drive her loss far from her own home without the support of her family and friends back in Tennessee.”
  • After undergoing fertility treatments and becoming pregnant with her first child, Katy Dulong was diagnosed with cervical insufficiency. When she was told that she would “inevitably lose the pregnancy,” Dulong was “not given the medication that would have allowed her body to expel the pregnancy promptly without further risk to her own health.” Ten days later, the fetus’ body was in Dulong’s vaginal canal. The suit claims that she could have died from the “lengthy delay in receiving the care that she would have promptly received but for Tennessee’s abortion ban.”

“Abortion is necessary healthcare that is being denied under Tennessee’s abortion ban,” the suit says. “Tennessee’s abortion ban prevents pregnant people and those who may become pregnant from receiving the nationally recognized standard of care they need.”

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Politics Politics Beat Blog

Poll: Tennesseans  Support  Gun Laws, Abortion, LGBTQ Rights

Photo by Brandon Hooper / Unsplash

In the wake of  local gun incidents that have prompted potential emergency action from the Memphis city council, a Vanderbilt University survey demonstrates a favorable attitude statewide for new firearms legislation.

The semiannual Vanderbilt Poll, released on Wednesday, finds “significant bipartisan support” for government action on gun control. The poll also indicates support for “basic protections for abortion” and for provision of health care options for the LGBTQ community.

Though Governor Bill Lee has said he intends to call a special session of the General Assembly to consider new gun laws, the legislature adjourned its 2023 session last week without considering such legislation. Meanwhile, the Memphis city council may test the resolve of the Assembly’s Republican supermajority against new laws by passing its own gun ordinances. 

The council’s action, signaled by Councilman Jeff Warren, is in response to the shooting of two people on Beale Street over the weekend, followed by a disturbed young gunman’s firing a round on Tuesday into the studio space of Fox-13  television.

The council will apparently consider action for a red-flag law, for banning assault weapons locally, and to require gun-carry permits. If it does so, it will challenge state government’s increasing emphasis on curtailing local options.

However the state might respond officially, its citizens would find such action agreeable, according to the Vanderbilt Poll.

The survey, conducted April 19-23 among 1,003 registered Tennessee voters, shows that 82 percent of those polled support Gov. Lee’s  recent executive order on gun background checks, and that three-quarters of them desire “red flag” laws to that end.

Support for the governor’s executive order, issued in response to the recent Covenant School shootings in Nashville, which killed six people, was 81 percent among self-described non-MAGA Republicans, 91 percent among Democrats, and 78 percent among independents.

The survey indicates that gun control ranked as the third-most important issue on the minds of Tennesseans, just two percentage points behind education and three points behind the economy. 

On abortion, 82 percent of those surveyed supported the right of abortion in cases of rape, incest, or threats to the life of the mother.

Further, says a summary of poll results, “At a rate of 3 to 1, Tennesseans oppose the idea that a person should be charged with a crime if they help a Tennessee citizen get an abortion in another state. Opposition to this idea is again bipartisan, with 93 percent of Democrats, 82 percent of Independents, 62 percent of non-MAGA Republicans and 53 percent of MAGA Republicans.”

And, though the survey indicates sentiment to control sexually suggestive entertainments in public, apparently including drag shows, “most voters oppose legislation that would restrict transgender individuals’ access to health care.” Such restrictions were opposed by 66 percent of those surveyed.

“It’s hopeful that while 58 percent of respondents view Tennesseans as divided, there is a fairly strong agreement on basic next steps in our most politically divisive issues,” said John Geer, co-director of the Vanderbilt Poll and Ginny and Conner Searcy Dean of the College of Arts and Science and professor of political science at Vanderbilt University. “At the same time, 74 percent of registered voters say they’d prefer their elected leaders compromise across the aisle rather than strictly pursue their own values and priorities.”

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News News Feature

Abortion Rights Supporters March in Downtown Memphis

Abortion rights supporters march on Beale Street on May 14, 2022. (photo by Chris McCoy)

Hundreds gathered in the hot sun to rally in support of abortion rights on Saturday in Downtown Memphis. The crowd was protesting the anticipated U.S. Supreme Court decision that would reverse the 50-year precedent of Roe v. Wade, the decision which affirmed women’s Constitutional right to abortion via their right to privacy.

A Planned Parenthood of Memphis and North Mississippi official declined to estimate how many attended the Bans Off Tennessee protest, beyond noting more than 1,200 had signed up for the event through the organization’s online organizing portal. The rally crowd spilled out of Ida B. Wells Plaza, dwarfing the dozen or so Proud Boys counter-protesters, who flashed white supremacist hand signs at the line of feminist protestors facing them across Beale Street.

A Proud Boy flashes a white power hand sign at abortion rights protestors. (photo by Chris McCoy)

Among the speakers at the hour-long rally were Tennessee House Representative London Lamar, scientist and Shelby County Democratic Party chairwoman Gabby Salinas, Planned Parenthood organizers Antoine Dandridge and Aerris Newton, Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, and candidate for Tennessee State Senate Ruby Powell Dennis.

Planned Parenthood organizer Aerris Newton speaks next to the statue of Ida B. Wells. (photo by Chris McCoy)

After the rally, most of the attendees braved the heat to march down Beale Street, where tourists and revelers watched and took pictures of the throng. At one point, a street singer incorporated the marchers’ chant “My body, my choice” into a blues song.

Abortion rights protestors march down Beale Street. (photo by Chris McCoy)
A spectator applauds the marchers on Beale Street. (photo by Chris McCoy)

The marchers turned onto Main Street, where their chants of “No justice, no peace” echoed through the urban canyons. While taking pictures of the crowd, this reporter almost ran over Congressman Steve Cohen of Memphis, who was cheering on the marchers from the south sidewalk.

Abortion rights protestors march past the Orpheum in Downtown Memphis. (photo by Chris McCoy)

By this time, the tiny counter-protest had melted away. Beyond the occasional thumbs-down along the route, there were few signs of dissent from the marchers message in support of women’s rights to make their own reproductive health decisions.

Abortion rights protestors arrive at the National Civil Rights Museum. (photo by Chris McCoy)

The energized crowd arrived for a second rally at the National Civil Rights Museum, where organizer Newton led chants. Cohen thanked the marchers for braving the heat and told the crowd he was with them “one million percent.” Volunteers handed out water bottles as the protesters mixed about, sharing their stories of experiences with abortion and their personal awakening to the cause. No violence or arrests were observed.

Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-9) rallies the crowd at the National Civil Rights Museum. (photo by Chris McCoy)
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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Bounty Law: Greetings From the Future

Dog the Bounty Hunter will soon face fierce competition. (Photo: Wikimedia)

It all began with Texas’ most recent abortion ban. Senate Bill 8, the one that, essentially, deputized private citizens, empowering them to spy on each other and sue providers and others suspected of having helped women get abortions. The Supreme Court declined to rule on the constitutionality of the law — or to block it. Eventually, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland vowed that the Department of Justice was “urgently” searching for a way to challenge the law.

But no anti-abortion law is too unconstitutional for Tennessee to try. So, here in the future, I’ve undergone a career change. I used to be a journalist. I was the editor of the Memphis Flyer, and I loved it. But you can only be called “the enemy of the people” so many times before you start to look at other lines of work. Besides, working as a professional amateur bounty hunter is incredibly lucrative. You see, Tennessee didn’t just adopt Texas’ anti-abortion law. No, we saw it as a way to usher in a veritable smorgasbord of unconstitutional laws we reintroduce each legislative session. Just give the public the option to police them. Tennessee finally got a “bathroom bill,” allowing professional amateur bounty hunters like me to report individuals suspected of having used a bathroom that doesn’t match the gender on their birth certificate. Each time, I get a cut of the $10,000 fine. Not really a high-water mark for the state if you care about common decency or not traumatizing students just trying to use the bathroom between classes and active shooter drills (those are a daily occurance now), but I sleep fine as long as the checks cash.

Speaking of school, this “bounty law” work-around finally gave us the solution to critical race theory, the graduate school-level legal course that’s not taught in K-12-grade glasses but which, nonetheless, became a particular bogeyman of the GOP for a time back in good ol’ 2021. That’s right, anything that even remotely resembles CRT being taught in school is punishable with a hefty fine these days. In fact, I successfully sued an elementary school teacher just this week. She made the mistake of calling the “War of Northern Aggression” the “Civil War” in front of impressionable young minds. Can you imagine? What if some poor child got the idea that slavery was bad? Or that anything wrong had ever happened in America? Or that some groups had been discriminated against because of their race or gender — and that it still happens today? That’s preposterous! Now let me tell you some more about how I make a living by policing the private, personal health choices of women.

Those horrible hypotheticals are the questions that worry me as I try to fall asleep, lulled by the incessant hacking and coughing of my unvaccinated neighbor. That’s right, Covid’s still a thing in the future. Back in ’21 you’re still dealing with the Delta variant, right? Those were the days! The virus has mutated a few more times, and it’s much more contagious now. The upside is my mask helps conceal my identity while I’m bounty hunting.

You probably want to hear more about the bounties. Yes, it seems far-fetched at first, but you have to remember, Tennessee is the state that did away with handgun permit requirements back in 2021. Were we really going to let an opportunity like this pass us by? No, our legislators — the good, righteous, patriotic ones, anyway — started copying from the Texas playbook right away. See someone offer water to a citizen standing in a long line waiting to exercise their democratic right to vote? That’s a lawsuit. Abortion? CRT? Spreading vaccine “misinformation” — like that they’re safe and effective? Lawsuits. I’m rich these days, kids. If other countries ever admit Covid is a hoax and open up their borders to the U.S. again, I’m taking my family on such a sweet vacation with all the money I’ve earned.

Sure, some detractors will talk about “body autonomy” and the “right to privacy,” and to be fair, they make excellent points. If I had time to feel guilty, I imagine I might, but I’ve got too many lawsuits to file to waste time on morality. After all, these people won’t report themselves.

Let’s get real. I don’t believe S.B. 8 in Texas is about protecting life. (And I don’t doubt Tennessee would hesitate to try something similar.) No, it seems aimed squarely at undermining women’s rights. It’s disgusting and cruel, and empowering the public to bring charges because the state can’t enforce the law is frightening and dangerous.

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said… (August 20, 2015)

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Chris McCoy’s cover story, “Best of Enemies” …

Thanks for a good article. Having known Mr. Buckley and written at length about him, I can assure you that this infamous moment with Vidal was highly uncharacteristic. In fact, he had great friendships with many of the leading liberal/left-thinkers of the era: John Kenneth Galbraith, Murray Kempton, Norman Mailer, Al Lowenstein, etc.

Vidal, on the other hand, managed to alienate seemingly everyone with whom he engaged, including Mailer, Podhoretz, Truman Capote, and Robert Kennedy. I look forward to the film, but the reality is that Buckley set the standard for civil discourse for decades, but for his exchanges with Vidal.

George Shadroui

About Susan Wilson’s column, “Gen X Marks the Spot” …

Generation X is considered to be anyone born between 1962 — sometimes 1961 — and 1981.

wutisay

I’ve heard 1964 ended the baby boom. So I’ve considered myself a boomer for years. You’re messing with my claim to curmudgeonliness.

Brunetto Latini

About Bruce VanWyngarden’s column, “Master Debaters, Near and Far” …

I like the Trumpster being in the midst of the current slate of GOP presidential candidates. There’s never a dull moment with Trump’s politically unorthodox behavior and tactics he uses against the cowering blue-blood establishment — milquetoast Republicans and the in-the-Democrats’-back-pocket media.

I think there’s deep resentment of the political scum in Washington, who have been governing over the last nine years or so against the will of the majority of Americans. Trump’s ever-rising poll numbers are indicative of their angst and disgust. The more Trump rants about illegal aliens, closing our borders, Marx-Obamacare, tax rates and structures, foreign enemies, the higher his numbers.

The RNC, DNC, and media have to be scratching their heads about Trump’s poll numbers. None of their playbooks have instructions on how to deal with non-politicians like him. Especially ones worth $10 billion.

Will Trump make it to the White House? Not likely. But candidates are definitely paying close attention to Trump — his poll numbers and his tactics — and they’re taking notes. Needless to say, the next 14 months of American politics should be interesting and entertaining.

Nightcrawler

Abortion was certainly a major topic during the recent Republican debates. There were passionate denunciations of abortion made by most of the candidates. But I think much hypocrisy is shown by these “pro-life” candidates who are so concerned with protecting unborn life but who seem to lack compassion for people after they are born. The candidates would all repeal Obamacare and offer no plan to help the 50 million people who would then lack access to health care. The suffering of millions of Americans and the deaths of thousands of others each year because they lack health coverage does not seem to be a problem for them. These candidates and other conservatives look at the poor as deadbeats waiting for government handouts, when the overwhelming majority of poor people work and pay taxes. Poor people struggle, because they are paid wages a person cannot live on. Sister Joan Chittister recently said a person can be against abortion but not deserve to be called “pro-life,” because they do not care about a child after it is born. She said instead of being truly pro-life that these people are really just pro-birth. I would characterize all Republican presidential candidates as pro-birth, not pro-life.

Philip Williams

The fact that Trump can rise in the polls after supporting a single-payer heath-care system at the RNC debate ought to establish once and for all that the Republican base is driven more by animus than by any concern for policy. He can run to the left of Bernie Sanders if he wants, as long as he keeps saying mean things about women and minorities.

autoegocrat

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Letters To The Editor Opinion

What They Said (October 23, 2014) …

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

About Toby Sells’ cover story, “Trolley Trials”…

Without the trolleys, it’s like the heart has been ripped out of downtown Memphis. They truly were the heart, soul, and glue that held everything together. The sooner they’re back, the better off everyone will be. It’s sad to read that many businesses are suffering. What makes this really disappointing is this entire episode could’ve been avoided had competent management been in place. I do feel Ron Garrison has a good handle on the situation, and I feel confident in his leadership.

Midtown Mark

About Les Smith’s “At Large” column on MLGW …

Les is spot on. This closely parallels the city administration’s way of handling the “shortfall” in funding the pension. Let’s put it on the backs of the retirees by taking away the health coverage to make up the deficit. Cargill (a PILOT benefactor) cost the city millions in tax revenue, and now MLGW wants to put it on the backs of the customers. Another PILOT recipient that got a free ride and pulled out with no penalty or accountability. And the mayor and council are having a hard time understanding our shrinking tax base? Wake up, Memphis!

Bobcat

About Bianca Phillips’ story, “Beer Me”…

One of the measures on the upcoming ballot will allow voters to determine the availability of wine in grocery stores in municipalities throughout the county. It’s important to clarify a few points about this ballot measure.

The phrase “grocery stores” is extremely misleading. In fact, if this measure passes, wine up to 18 percent alcohol in volume (and products manufactured from wine) will become available at convenience stores, corner markets, and gas stations. In order to qualify to sell wine, an establishment needs only to have a minimum of 1,200 square feet and sell at least 20 percent food products.

Numerous studies indicate a direct link between the number of alcohol outlets and the incidence of violent crime, including domestic violence. Approving this legislation will expand availability of wine from approximately 140 retail stores to more than 600 convenience and grocery stores throughout our community.

There has been little detail from the Alcoholic Beverage Commission as to how they plan on regulating the sale of wine in so many additional stores. Expanding availability of alcohol will dramatically stress the commission’s already taxed resources, increasing the likelihood of underage sales.

Passage of this measure will eliminate local jobs, close retail stores, and move revenue to the hands of large, out-of-state businesses. Our Memphis-area retail store proprietors and store team members are deeply involved in our communities. Vote No to the wine-in-grocery-stores bill.

Josh Hammond

Memphis Area Retailers Association

About the upcoming vote on Amendment 1…

Our state constitution was purposefully designed to be very difficult to change, and with good reason. It takes a two-thirds majority of both houses of legislature to even get an initiative on the ballot, and that is after it has been voted on in two consecutive legislative sessions. Since its adoption in 1870, our constitution has only been amended nine times, yet the Republican-led legislature has placed four amendments on this year’s ballot. Why? Has our constitution been wrong for these 140-plus years? Or is it simply a power grab by those in the majority?

Amendment 1 restricts and removes rights from the constitution — something that has never been done before in the history of the state or federal constitutions. Proponents call it “returning Tennessee to a position of neutrality.” That is just a fancy way of saying they will no longer protect a woman’s right to privacy. Constitutions are meant to enumerate and preserve rights of individuals, not to give them over to whatever political party happens to be in power. They are to protect the rights of the minority against the tyranny of the majority. People’s rights should never be put on the ballot for a vote. We must be very careful not to advocate taking rights away, because one day the rights they take away may be yours. Vote No on Amendment 1.

Meryl Rice

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News News Feature

What Happens Next?

If women have no access to abortion in Tennessee, what happens next?

What happens to women, pregnant as the result of rape, who don’t want to carry the trauma inside them for nine months? What happens to women who simply can’t afford another child – financially or emotionally?

Those who back the first constitutional amendment on the November 4th ballot do not want you to consider what happens next.

If Amendment 1 passes, Tennessee’s Republican-controlled legislature will enact enough abortion restrictions to make Roe v. Wade meaningless.

Whether it’s mandatory waiting periods or medically unnecessary hurdles for a procedure with a lower rate of complications than a colonoscopy, draconian measures adopted in other states would surely find a home here.

“If this passes, it opens the floodgates,” said Allison Glass, state director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, which promotes reproductive rights.

The fight over Amendment 1 exposes the hypocrisy of pro-fetus, anti-child conservatives who bark for smaller, less intrusive government while maneuvering their way into women’s personal affairs.

What the legislature won’t do is abandon a foolhardy commitment to abstinence-only sex ed in public schools, find money for universal pre-K, or persuade Governor Bill Haslam to save more than 800 lives annually by accepting federal money to expand Medicaid.

Here’s what the proposed amendment says: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or require the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

You read that right. The decision to outlaw abortion even in the stomach-churning case of incest would be left in the hands of state legislators, 83 percent of whom are men.

That prospect worries Rebecca Terrell, executive director of the reproductive health center, Choices. Terrell spends a good bit of her time these days debunking “Yes on 1’s” talking points, which include the fact that 25 percent of abortions in Tennessee are performed on women who live out of state. 

In Mississippi, which has just one abortion provider, 2 percent of abortions were obtained by women who live out of state. The reason why women come to Tennessee to get an abortion is no different than the reason why children with cancer come from around the globe to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

“They say it’s an abortion destination,” Terrell said. “It’s really a health-care destination.”

On Saturday, Terrell was among 200 people gathered in First Presbyterian Church’s parking lot for what was billed as a get out the vote rally, complete with a bounce house for kids and toe-tapping music. At a break in the music, “No on 1” field director Gail Tyree took to the stage and led the crowd in a call-and-response.

“All you need to know,” she yelled. “No on 1!” the crowd yelled back.

More energy, money (nearly $2 million raised so far), and national attention have been directed at the Amendment 1 battle than at any other constitutional amendment in recent history. Terrell and others are trying to be sure they stay on the right side of the line that prohibits 501(c)3s from lobbying.

A healthy roster of Christian ministers and other faith leaders, both white and black, are firmly in the “No on 1” camp.

“As people of faith, we are and should be concerned about the impact of any legislation that might limit access to basic needs for survival for people who are already at risk,” said Rev. Faye London, interfaith coordinator for SisterReach, a reproductive rights organization. “As I’ve traveled across the state, most of the clergy I’ve encountered, whether they’ve been able to say it out loud or not, feel the same way.”

London is careful not to directly advocate against Amendment 1, but is frank about the high stakes. Access to abortion, she says, is a basic need. “The ability to build the life that is going to be healthiest for you and your family is a basic need.”

A May poll by Vanderbilt University found that 71 percent of voters opposed giving the state legislature authority to regulate abortions.

A No vote on Amendment 1 gives women facing an unintended pregnancy, not legislators, the right to decide what happens next.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Consistency on Abortion in Tennessee

Two weeks ago in this space, we ruminated a bit on the sad irony that Tennesseans had overwhelmingly voted back on August 7th to keep pure politics out of the appellate court system, only to see their judgment thwarted in the

immediate aftermath of the election. The state’s Supreme Court — apparently including the three justices whose careers had just been saved from a GOP-sponsored partisan purge by a 2-to-1 statewide vote — concurred in what surely looked like a plain-and-simple political act: the election of an avowedly Republican state attorney  general, Herb Slatery, who had until then been serving as the lawyer for GOP Governor Bill Haslam.

Slatery’s predecessor, the now deposed Robert Cooper, had by virtually all accounts served with distinction. The main disqualifying factor for him apparently was that he had been appointed to office by a previous Democratic governor, Phil Bredesen. That fact had put him on the hit list of the state’s reigning legislative power, Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey, whose PAC had bankrolled much of the capaign against retaining Justices Gary Wade, Connie Clark, and Sharon Lee, all of whom had earned Ramsey’s wrath because — you guessed it — they, too, had been appointed by Bredesen.

No doubt Slatery is both an honest man and a competent lawyer. We have no reason to think otherwise. Our concern about his appointment has to do with the political context of his selection. It seems reasonably clear that the High Court’s vote was a de facto courtesy nod to the Republican Party, which unmistakably is now the governing body of state government. So much for the principle of checks and balances, although no doubt the justices were acting somewhat in the name of consistency.

For what it’s worth, that idea is inherent in one of the major issues on the forthcoming November 4th state ballot — the statewide referendum on Constitutional Amendment 1, which would essentially repudiate a state Supreme Court decision from 2000 in the case of Planned Parenthood v. Sundquist. By a 4-to-1 vote, the court established guidelines in its ruling that extended protection for abortion rights beyond what even the U.S. Supreme Court had established. The proposed Amendment 1 would severely shrink that protection, apparently putting in jeopardy even, in the words of the amendment, “circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”

The weekly Tennessee Journal, as even-handed and judicious a publication as there is in Tennessee, examined that fact last week in the light of the recent judicial-retention election and summarized its findings under the head: “An affirmative vote on Amendment 1 would repudiate court.” As the Journal noted, Ramsey had stated explicitly that a success for his purge campaign “would send a strong message that we expect our judges to interpret the Constitution, not rewrite it.”

As a corollary, these retention results would surely seem to mean, in the interests of consistency, that the Constitution should not be rewritten in the mode of Amendment 1.

Let the public be clear-minded where the reprieved justices may not have been.